


Witness

by Tarlan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, Community: trope_bingo, M/M, Meet the Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 05:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8132180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: On Jeannie's insistence, Rodney takes John home to meet his parents.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for:  
> \- **mcsheplets** 229: witness  
>  \- **trope_bingo** : meeting the parents/family
> 
> A long, long time ago, on a YAHOO comm, someone asked for: _Meet The Parents Challenge - After a brief sojourn to Earth, the team need to return to Atlantis but nobody can reach Rodney. So John (along with Ford and Teyla, of course) has to go and pick up Rodney, and braces himself for a meeting with Rodney's parents, expecting two evil people who hate their son. But it seems Rodney has not been entirely truthful because he is sort of embarrassed about them. They're actually hippies/flower children who practice free love and live on a commune and Rodney is not his real first name, but he legally changed it. (Maybe it was his grandfather's name, your choice). His real first name is something 60's, like maybe Freedom and his parents are the ones who are freaked because their son has become a stiff, conservative scientist, when all they wanted him to be was an environmental crusader (or something silly like that) like his father_
> 
> I didn't quite manage all those elements but....

It was like a scene out of an old Harrison Ford movie and it certainly answered a number of questions regarding Rodney and his attitude towards the 'Peasants of Pegasus'.

The wagon bumped down the small track leading to a large farm house with John and Rodney seated in the flatbed among their belongings. On the wagon seat sat two older people, and the only difference between them and the Amish people of that old movie was their clothing. Both were dressed in loose, brightly colored pants and shirts rather than the plain clothing of the Amish. The woman wore a rainbow scarf covering long, almost white hair and the man a tie-dyed shirt with his mostly gray hair tied back with a bright blue ribbon that matched the color of his summer blue eyes. Both had chains of wild flowers as necklaces and John swore he'd even seen wild flowers threaded into the man's beard.

"Jeannie Blue was here just last week, Mer," the woman stated, smiling back at them, ignoring the way Rodney grit his teeth and flushed in second-hand embarrassment.

Rodney's mother had insisted John called her Rainbow Star, and Rodney's father was Moon Beam. 

When Jeannie insisted on John accompanying Rodney 'home' to visit their parents, John had never considered this the reason why Rodney was so reluctant, thinking he might be ashamed to admit he had fallen in love with another guy, and expecting Rodney's parents to be narrow-minded like his own family. John's father would have disowned him were he not already dead, not that John had expected to gain or had even wanted any part of his father's estate. What he had wanted was acceptance so he was a little jealous of Rodney for having parents who would accept his choice of life partner so readily, rejoicing in their love for each other.

The wagon halted by the barn and John was more than happy to help Moon Beam unhitch the horses, recalling happy days spent on his parent's horse ranch before he turned his back on the family wealth in favor of the skies. He hoisted hay into the feeding trough in each stall, patting the horses. They were not thoroughbreds like his father's but they were still beautiful and majestic in his eyes.

"So... You and Mer are sharing a blanket beneath the stars," Moon Beam stated. "Huh! I guess I owe his mother two weeks of yarn spinning. She said he was trying too hard to convince himself he loved only women. Dylan will laugh, and probably write a song about it."

"Dylan?"

"Mer's father."

John frowned. "I thought you were-."

"Oh I am... and so is Dylan and Cloud." He reached out and patted John's shoulder. "Perhaps we should go in and meet all your beloved's family."

John blinked, wanting to mentally kick himself for not realizing this was a commune. Teyla would have been proud of him for putting on his most friendly, diplomatic face as he was introduced to the other two men and three women who shared the large farmhouse. Later, after joining them at the table for supper he quickly determined which of those present were Rodney's biological parents but figured they each saw themselves as a parent to the children of the others. The only moment of disquiet came when John told them he was in the military.

They were given the room Rodney had slept in as a child - along with two other brothers that Rodney had failed to mention.

"Any other surprises?" John asked.

"Three more sisters, but Jeannie was the only one who would talk to me after I built a bomb in the cellar and was sent off to Northwestern to continue my education under the watchful eye of the CIA." Rodney talked of the commune's disapproval, of how he had always been different - too smart and too full of curiosity to stay - but this was where he had learned to love the stars.

It kind of explained a lot about the man he had come to love with all his heart. John was glad Rodney had taken him home to meet his parents... all of them... but he was also grateful they were only staying two days as he could already feel the undercurrents of disapproval aimed at both their career choices. He wished he could tell them of Atlantis and the good they were trying to do in Pegasus, bringing peace to a galaxy now free of the Wraith. His father had died before John could show him all he had achieved, and silently he hoped Rodney would be able to share his true accomplishments before he lost his parents to age and time.

As they settled into the back of the wagon for the return trip to the nearest town large enough to have an airport, John wrapped his arms around Rodney and drew him close. 

"Did I tell you I have a brother?"

"Actually, no. Ronon told me you had a brother... and an ex-wife."

John winced. "Maybe it's my turn to rattle the skeletons in my closet," he replied, already planning the visit, and smiling as Rodney snorted disbelievingly.

David was in for a shock, especially when he eventually got to meet the in-laws.

END  
 


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